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TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 



pp. 320, 323) gives up the Percesoces as a separate order and allocates them under the name 

 'Mugiloidea' to the Percomorphi. 



Accordingly it seems probable that Melanotania of Australia (as figured by Weber 

 and de Beaufort, 1922) and its allies are far from being really primitive Percesoces but that 

 they are invaders of the rivers there, derived from marine atherinids. 



With this general view of the possible origin of the Percesoces in mind we are perhaps 

 in a better position to evaluate some of the characters of the skull of Sphyrana (Fig. 141). 



Sphyraena barracuda 



Fig. 142. Sphyrana barracuda; top view. 



The forward inclination of the suspensorium may be partly du3 to inheritance from a short- 

 jawed atherinid-like fish, but it may very probably be due in part to the lengthening of the 

 body as a whole, the rapid forward growth of the underside of the jaws and throat and the 



